The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-06-19

ADOLPH DE- BAUSSET. elsewhere have be
come interested in it, and are almost as eager
rs the inventor himself for the construction
and trial Of the first aerial vessel.
Wherein Dr. De Baussets proposed air
ship differs from all its predecessors is easily
explained As every one knows balloons have
been constructed on the principle that pure
hydrogen gas, weighing only l-l4th As much
as air. displacement by this gas Of II
pounds Of air will give a buoyancy or ascen-
sional force Of l3 pounds. For instance. the
air in balloon 80 feet diameter will weigh
! ,376 pounds; but if the air be expelled and
its place filed with hydrogen the gas will
weigh only "a pounds, and the balloon will
float in the air II the silk or other material of
which it is composed, its car, passengers, bal
last, etc, do not weigh more than ,2e2
pounds As a matter Of fact, however, pure
hydrogen is rarely used for initiation of bal
| looms, being Of expensive manufacture, and
| common Illuminating gas, three or four times
heavier than hydrogen, Is generally used in
stead
DR.. De Bau,set's radical departure is that
he does not intend using any gas at ALL To
initiate bis balloon be will use-nOthing
Simply vacuum. Gas is lighter than air
but a vacuum which is the absence Of air, is
lighter than gas There is something rather
startling about the idea Of Initiating a balloon
with nothing. but no law Of physics is trans
gressed thereby Any vessel from which all
or portion Of the air has been pumped viii
rise and float in the atmosphere II the weight
of the vessel be not greater than that Of the
air displaced About this there is no doubt,
l II l. D L..
the rub Dr. DE Baussets reply is an enthu-
sastc and emphatic affirmative.
BY his plan things are turned quite around
! Balloon builders Of the past have endeavorei
10 make their ship strong enough 10 resist the
pressure Of the gas within, DR.. De Bausset
must make his balloon strong enough % re
sst the pressure Of the air without This. il
must be remembered, Is no slight task, for
the pressure Of the air is equivalent 20 fifteen
pounds 10 the square inch, and upon the body
OF a man Of average stature tho atmospheric
pressure is no less than seventeen tons II ID
were not for The air, blood and other fluids
within the body this pressure would be likely
TO make itself felt i'm an unpleasant manner
Aattening man out, perhaps, like the ira
ditiOnal pancake But the proposed air ship
Is not 10 nave lue hIN hHttbt 'i 0uIl''i bhE
fluids within. and must by main strength Of
the materials Of which IL is composed resist
the pressure from without.
Therefore the inventors novel proposition
is TO construct a balloon Of steel plates one
forty-fourth Of an inch in thickness. lie has
had such plates made and carefully tested,
with the result Of demonstrating that their
strength is more than sufficient for the pur
pose And what monster balloon It is that
he proposes building and sailing away % the
North Pole I'M Look at the dimensions: 65i
feet long, l44 feet in diameter cylinder
with coniral ends, all made Of the steel plate,
riyeted together and stanchly braced. Such
a ship would be nearly as large rs the Chicago
exposition building. but the inventor say he
can build it and sail it to the North Pole, or
to London, or Paris, or Yeddo.